VIETNAM Young Religious Society Gets First Priests In 'Public' Ordinations

Posted: 4th January 2007

NAM DINH, Vietnam (UCAN) -- A 10-year-old Religious society has marked a major milestone with the priestly ordinations of four of its earliest members.

The four members of the Society of Mission and Anunciation (SMA), aged 35-41, along with a candidate from Ha Noi-based St. Joseph Major Seminary, were ordained on Dec. 22 at Nam Dinh church square in Nam Dinh city, 90 kilometers southeast of the capital. The ordaining prelate, Archbishop Joseph Ngo Quang Kiet of Ha Noi, urged the four -- Fathers Joseph Tran Van Doat, Francis Xavier Vu Quang Hung, Pierre Tran Van Thuc, Antoine Tran Cao Tich -- "to live a holy life and love and serve God's people, especially the poor and sick."

Concelebrating the open-air ordination Mass were Auxiliary Bishop Pierre Nguyen Van De of Bui Chu and former Auxiliary Bishop Paul Le Dac Trong of Ha Noi, now living at Nam Dinh parish house, as well as 100 priests. Also present were Buddhist and Protestant representatives and government authorities.

Father Martine Nguyen Ba Thinh, the pastor, told them: "This is an important day for us because ordinations are being held in the parish after a century." He said the area is where feudal regimes in the 18th and 19th centuries killed 47 Vietnamese Christian martyrs for remaining loyal to their faith.

The four joined SMA in 1996, the same year Cardinal Paul Joseph Pham Dinh Tung of Ha Noi founded it. The 87-year-old prelate retired on Feb. 3, 2005.

After studying at a Salesian-run institute in Ho Chi Minh City (1997-2003), the four attended a two-year theological refresher course at Stella Maris Major Seminary in Nha Trang, central Vietnam.

Seminarian Joseph Nguyen Tien Khiem, another of SMA's earliest members, told UCA News that the ordinations "bring great joy and hope for us and mark a turning point in the society's development."

Khiem, a third-year student at St. Joseph Major Seminary, explained that the Holy See in 2004 officially recognized the society, whose aim is to create opportunities for young men who want to serve people in consecrated life.

According to Khiem, 11 of SMA's 25 members have taken Religious vows, and have completed studies or else continue studying at the seminary or other Church institutes. The other 14 are seminary candidates now engaged in pastoral work in Ha Noi parishes or in Ha Nam, Ha Tay and Nam Dinh provinces. He added that some are also developing health-care skills or receiving vocational training in areas such as carpentry.

Khiem further explained that SMA is still in its early stage of development and needs to obtain government approval for it to continue operations. The society is presently based in Archbishop Kiet's house, he said.

The archbishop told UCA News: "This may be the first time in archdiocesan history that ordinations were in a parish, away from the archbishop's house, the cathedral or major seminary, where ordinations traditionally took place. This allows lay Catholics in provinces to attend the event." The government's more relaxed religious policies these days allowed this to happen, he said.

Joseph Nguyen Dinh Hoang, 80, a Nam Dinh parishioner who walked leaning on a cane to attend the ordinations, told UCA News, "I have never attended any ordinations in my life, so I'm very happy to attend this ceremony." After witnessing the ordinations, he feels he can now die happy, he added.

Many local Catholics who also never before attended such a ceremony elbowed their way through the crowd to see "how priests are ordained," Hoang said.

With the five new priests, Ha Noi archdiocese now has 71 priests, serving about 300,000 Catholics in 135 parishes.

Article Source: UCAN